Zeta

CHALLENGE – GROWING COMPETITION After over 40 years in the business, Zeta was best known for their olive oil and needed to defend their space in the supermarket – by becoming a brand known for their story. We began working with Zeta in 2014, just as private label groceries were starting to explode. To fortify their position in the supermarkets, Zeta’s identity needed to be defined and declared. While Zeta offered tasty, high-quality food products, the brand itself didn’t carry meaning to the consumers, lacking a strong emotional bond. Therefore, it was easy to replace.

Approach – a family business We began our work with a deep analysis of the brand, including the market, customers, and the competition. We also had several workshops with the core team to get the insights we needed to continue our work. With founder Fernando and his children as a central part of management, we had unique access to the brand’s actual core – while learning invaluable lessons on the virtues of carefully selected ingredients of the highest quality. With the family being an integral part of the discussions, we were able to learn the history of the brand, straight from the horse’s mouth.

Bringing the story of passion for food into the design In addition to the brand story we needed strong and cohesive visibility throughout the grocery stores. Fernando di Luca and his stories are our inspiration behind the concept, and as we developed the brand assets, we always tried to find the perfect balance between Italy and Sweden – in everything from colors, typography, imagery, and tonality.

Custom typeface We wanted to create a typeface suitable for a wide range of communication areas, regardless of medium. It was important that it felt modern, but we didn’t want to lose its old Italian origin. Therefore, we took inspiration from Italian Art Deco, resulting in an original typeface that has Zeta’s history written all over it. Furthermore, we developed several different weights and styles that are easy to adapt to every conceivable area of use.

Reinventing Fernandos handwriting As a homage to the Zeta typeface, we wanted to create an even more distinctive typeface. A typeface that would both draw from Zeta’s history and further harmonize with the new illustration style. This resulted in the personal Fernando Di Luca Script, a typeface completely based on Fernando’s handwriting.

Over 500 products Since Zeta has a wide product range, we have created a toolbox to easily categorize the products, and at the same time maintain a cohesive expression.

A life story Fernando di Luca has lived a long and eventful life, to say the least. It’s all of his amazing stories we build our communication upon, and that’s truly what makes this brand so unique. Through these stories, we have created everything from commercials and print ads to books and events – strengthening the concept of “From a family where food is love” even further.